Sucker rod on and off attachment



July 15, 1969 R. o. suTToN ETAL 3,455,248

SUCK-ER ROD ON AND OFF ATTACHMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 15, 1968 July 15, 1969 R. o. SUTTON ET AL 3,455,248

SUCKER ROD ON AND OFF ATTACHMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. l5, 1968 Clifford Lee Jones INVIiNTORS Attomrjx R. o. suT'roN ET Al. 3,455,248

sucxER Ron oN AND oFF ATTACHMENT AJuly 1s, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. l5, 1968 l N VE N TORS BY WWW fMmq,

Ralph 0. Suon Clifford L. Jones -T IllnlnllllllLhhlxllllll //T////////% /rf United States Patent O 3,455,248 SUCKER ROD ON AND OFF ATTACHMENT Ralph O. Sutton, P.O. BOX 331, Salem, W. Va. 26426,

and Clifford L. Jones, Rte. 2, Five Forks, W. Va. 26145 Filed Aug. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 756,724

Int. Cl. F0411 21/00, 21 /02 U.S. Cl. S-202 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An on and off attachment for subsurface tubing pumps comprising a lower body portion adapted to be secured to the pump plunger and run into the well during the make up of the tubing string, which tubing string is characterized by a significantly reduced diameter immediately above the portion of the string containing the tublng pump, an upper body portion adapted to be secured to the lowermost end of a sucker rod run into the tubln-g string subsequent to its placement in the well bore. The upper and lower body portions of the attachment are releasably connected downhole and the sucker rod may be subsequently disconnected from the pump plunger by drawing upwardly on the sucker rod so as to bring the lower body portion against a shoulder defined by the reduction in diameter of the tubing string whereby the upper and lower body portions become disconnected thus allowing withdrawal of the sucker rod from the tubing string without -dismantling of the tubing string. In one embodiment the attachment includes means for nonrotatably coupling the upper and lower body portions.

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 585,852, filed Oct. l1, 1966, now abandoned.

This invention relates to an attachment for subsurface pumps and more particularly to an attachment for sucker rod strings for selectively connecting and disconnecting the sucker rods from above ground at a joint adjacent the subsurface pump. More particularly, the present invention relates to an on and off attachment for sucker rods strings.

On and Off attachments have been proposed heretofore for the connection and disconnection of sucker rods to and from subsurface tubing pumps so as to provide for easy removal and replacement of sucker rods without disturbing the pump plunger, for example. In addition, an on and off attachment permits the utilization of tubing pumps of larger `diameter than the diameter of the production tubing inasmuch as a relatively large diameter tubing pump may be assembled within a section of large diameter tubing and the large tubing connected to the lower end of a relatively small diameter production tubin-g by means of a reducing nipple with one portion of the attachment assembled on the pump plunger. The pump plunger may then be picked up after all the-tubing has been run-in by connecting complementary portions of the attachment.

Unfortunately, many on and off attachments proposed heretofore are characterized by one or more inherent shortcomings. In this regard, although often referred tov ice portion of the device could not be prevented from rotating and thus the threadably connected parts could not be disconnected.

Accordingly, a need exists for a simple, efiicient and thoroughly reliable on and olf attachment to facilitate connecting and disconnecting a sucker rod string from the pump plunger rod of a subsurface pump.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel on and off attachment which permits the placement tubing pumps of substantially greater diameter than the general run of the production tubing so as to effect substantial economies of installation by permitting the use of relatively small diameter production tubing for a substantial portion ofthe pipe string.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel attachment for subsurface pumps which permits installation of the pumps without the necessity of equipping the pumps with clutch prongs, slips, or the like to prevent rotation of the plunger to permit disconnection of the attachment'su'ch as is generally imperative with many on and off attachments proposed heretofore.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel on and off attachment which includes two telescopically received portions, one portion being removably secured to the pump plunger rod and a complementary telescopically received portion being removably secured to the lower end of the sucker rod. The upper and lower portions of which attachment may normally be releasably locked from above ground without relying upon the rotation of the sucker rod to be able to connect to or disconnect from the pump plunger rod but wherein in one embodiment of a tool incorporating the invention structure is provided for non-rotatably connecting the telescopically received portions in the event rotation of the sucker rod becomes necessary to disconnect from the pump.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an on and off attachment for subsurface pumps which attachment comprises a quick-releasing high strength connector generally including a mandrel and a complementary socket engageable thereon and releasably locked thereto by resilient clamping means.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an on and off attachment for subsurface pumps wherein the complementary portions of the attachment carried by the pump plunger rod and sucker rod are maintained in releasably locked telescopic relation by a spring-biased means which may be manipulated from above ground to permit selectively disconnecting the portions of the attachment to permit pulling of the sucker rod string without pulling the pump plunger.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an on and off attachment for subsurface pumps which is rugged and simple in construction and substantially devoid of any complicated mechanism so as to be reliable under adverse conditions.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel on and off attachment for subsurface pumps which is provided with a means of continuously eliminating sand particles which might tend to adversely affect the operation of the attachment.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the detailsy of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of an on and off attachment for subsurface pumps constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and shown operatively positioned within a tubing string within a cased well;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional View of the on and olf attachment of FIGURE 1 further showing the relative position of the several elements thereof when disconnecting a sucker rod string from a pump plunger rod;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the on ,I and off attachment illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view of a portion of the on and olf attachment incorporating a means for non-rotatably coupling the components thereof and further showing the components non-rotatably coupled;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical transverse cross-sectional view, similar to the view of FIGURE 2 showing the relative position of the several elements thereof when disconnecting the embodiment of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of certain components of the attachment embodied in FIGURE 4 showing certain details of the means for nonrotatably coupling the components of the attachment.

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the embodiment of an on and olf attachment indicated generally at 10 includes an upper body portion 12 which comprises a female coupling part and a lower body portion 14 comprising a male coupling part adapted to be axially coupled. An axially slidable detent means indicated generally at 16 is provided to normally maintain the upper 12 and lower 14 body portions in coupled relationship. As seen best in FIGURES 1 and 2 the on and off attachment 10, discussed briefly hereinabove, is primarily adapted to releasably couple a piston plunger rod indicated at 18 of a subsurface pump, not shown, to its associated sucker rod indicated at 20. The sucker rod 20 extends to the well head and is reciprocated by a conventional power operated device, not shown, such as a walking beam. For illustrative purposes only the on and oif attachment 10 is shown operatively positioned within a relatively large diameter tubing pump barrel 22 provided with a swaged concentric reducer nipple 24 having a production tubing 26 of substantially reduced diameter coupled thereto. AS will become apparent hereinafter the on and off attachment 10 of the present invention, when utilized in the manner illustrated, permits utilization of a relatively large diameter tubing pump in conjunction with a relatively small diameter production tubing so as to effect substantial economies of installation when running in subsurface pumps to great depths, within a well bore as indicated at 28. Although not mentioned specifically heretofore, it will nevertheless be understood that the tubing elements 22, 24 and 26 are of conventional design, as are the components of the pump depending from the pump plunger rod 18.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 it will be seen that the lower body portion 14 is of a generally elongated cylindrical configuration and is provided with an integral elongated cylindrical head portion 30 adjacent the upper end thereof having a convex arcuate upper end 31 comprising a cam surface and further including an arcuate concave fillet 32 between the head portion 30 and the remainder of the lower body portion 14 of the attachment 10. The lower body portion is bored and internally threaded as indicated at to facilitate securing it to the pump plunger 'rod 18. The upper body portion 12 of the attachment 10 is also of a generally elongated cylindrical configuration provided with male threads such as at 34 adjacent the upper end thereof so as to facilitate removably securing the upper body portion 12 to complementary female threads 36 provided in the lower end of the sucker rod 20. As seen best in FIGURES 1 and 2 the upper body portion 12 is provided with an axially extending elongated centrally disposed concentric bore indicated generally at 38, which bore 38 communicates with the lower end of the upper body portion 12 so as to provide a socket means adapted to releasably engage the elongated cylindrical head portion 30 of the lower body portion 14. Toward this end, the lower portion of the upper body portion 12 is provided with a plurality of integral fingers indicated generally at 40, and in the embodiment 10 there are six fingers 40 provided, such as by slotting the outer wall of the upper body portion 12 adjacent the bore 38 thereof. The stock material utilized to fabricate the upper body portion 12 will be understood to be of a generally rigid somewhat resilient material, such as an appropriately tempered steel for example, so as to impart a generally resilient nature to the fingers 40. The lower end of each of the fingers 40 terminates in an inwardly disposed bulbous portion 42 having a convex configuration generally complementary to the configuration of the concave llet 32.

As seen best in FIGURE 1 the axially slidable detent means 16 cooperates to maintain the body portions 12 and =14 in normally coupled relationship. Toward this end, it will be seen that the detent means 16 includes a cylindrical sleeve 44 having an axially aligned bore indicated generally at 46 sized so as to permit the sleeve 44 to be mounted on the lower body portion 14 for limited free movement therealong in a manner to be described hereinafter. The upper portion of the sleeve 44 is provided with an axially aligned bore 48 concentric with, and of greater diameter than, the bore 46 and sized, as will be seen in FIGURE 2, so as to permit retraction of the bulbous portions 42 of the fingers 40 from within the concave fillet 32 so as to permit disengagement of the upper body 12 from the lower body portion 14 as will be described in more ldetail hereinafter.

The axial travel of the sleeve 44 is limited by means of an inwardly projecting stop 50 such as an externally threaded setscrew, or the like received in a complementarily threaded radially disposed bore 52. In the assembled relationship shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 the stop member 50 coacts with an axially disposed radially ex tending groove 54 so as to limit axial movement of the sleeve 44 bet-Ween its uppermost position as shown in FIGURE 1 and its lowermost position shown in FIG- URE 2 where the stop member 50 abuts the upper and lower walls, respectively, of the slot 54.

The sleeve 44 of the detent means 16 is normally biased in the position shown in FIGURE 1 by a helical spring 56 disposed between the lower end of the sleeve 44 and a spring baok up member or stop collar 58 releasably locked to the lower body portion 14 such as by a setscrew indicated at 60 so as to pretension the spring 56 as desired. The lower body portion 14 is further preferably provided with a plurality of axially disposed grooves `62 which extend along a substantial portion of the lower body portion -14 so as to permit foreign material, such as sand or the like, which may enter the bore 48, to pass downwardly through the grooves 62 which are operatively positioned within the bore 46 so as to permit the sand or the like to drop outwardly from the bore 48 inasmuch as the grooves 62 communicate the bore 48 with that portion of the lower body portion 14 disposed beneath the sleeve 44. Although not shown, it will furthermore be understood that the upper portion of the bore 48 of the sleeve 44 may be provided with a resilient Seal element to further reduce the possibility of the sand collecting in the bore 48. Furthermore, the upper edge of the bore 48 is preferably beveled such as at 49 so as to assist in guiding the upper body portion 12 therein when connecting the upper and lower body portions 12 and 14 of the embodiment 10.

Referring now to the operation of the embodiment 10 of the on and off attachment it will be appreciated from FIGURE 1 that the tubing pump plunger, not shown, and its associated piston plunger rod 18 with the lower body portion 14 of the attachment 10 threadably secured thereto are operatively positioned within the tubing 22 and lowered into the well. Thus it ywill be seen that in Order to pick up the lower body portion14, and thus the piston rod plunger 18, to elTect pumping of uid from the well, it is merely necessary to threadably secure the upper body portion 12 of the attachment 10 to the lowermost section of the sucker rod string 20 and proceed to lower the sucker road string 20, Iwith the upper body portion 12 thereon, downwardly through the producing tubing 26 until the bulbous portions 42 of the fingers 40 are cammed outwardly by the convex surface 31 of the head portion 30 of the lower body portion 14. As downward movement of the upper body portion 12 proceeds relative to the lower body portion 14, the fingers 40 will flex outwardly permitting the head 30 to pass upwardly within the bore 38. In doing so, it will be understood that the lower portion of the fingers 40 will come to rest against the horizontal shoulder between the concentric bores 48 and 46 thus urging the sleeve 44 downwardly therewith against the bias of the spring 56 until the lower ends of the fingers 40 come to rest against the lowest shoulder of the concave fillet 32 thus permitting the fingers to snap inwardly within the fillet 32 and simultaneously permitting the sleeve 44 to move upwardly into the position shown in FIGURE l by virtue of the bias on the spring 56 thus locking the upper body portion 12 to the lower body portion 14. The sucker rod string 20 may then be reciprocated, as desired to effect pumping of fluid from the well. It will be understood that normally the reciprocation of the sucker rod 20 does not bring the sleeve 44 into contact -with the neck of the swaged nipple 24. t

When it is desired to disconnect the sucker rod string 20 and its associated upper body portion 12 from the lower body portion 14 and its associated piston plunger rod 18 the sucker rod string 20 is urged upwardly a distance exceeding the normal pumping stroke so as to bring the sleeve 44 into contact with the neck of the swaged nipple 24 Awhereby continued upward movement of the sucker rod string 20 will permit the fingers 40 to carry the lower body portion 14 upwardly until such time as the fingers enter the relatively large diameter bore 48 and permit the bulbous portions 42 of the fingers 40 to be cammed outwardly from the fillet 32 by virtue of the arcuate cam configuration thereof whereby the fingers can slide upwardly along the head 30 thus disengaging the upper and lower body portions 12 and 14 and thus the piston plunger rod 18 from the sucker rod string 20. From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the operation` of the embodiment of the on and off attachment of the present invention does not require maintaining the lower portion of the attachment non-rotatable relative to the tubing in order to effect either connection or disconnection of the sucker rod string to or from the distant plunger rod.

Referring now to FIGUR-ES 4-6 of the drawings it will be seen that another embodiment of an on and off attachment constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention is illustrated therein. It will be noted that components of the attachment of FIGURES 4-6 analogous to those of the embodiment 10 of the attachment are identified by adding the prefix 1 to the numeral identifying the analogous part in FIGURES 1 3. Thus, the embodiment 110 of an on and off attachment constructed in accordance with the present invention will be seen to include an upper body portion 112, lower body portion 114, and axially slidably detent means indicated generally at 116 provided to normally maintain the upper 112 and lower 114 body portions in coupled relationship, as shown in -FIGURE 4.

lThe lower body portion 114 is provided with an integral elongated cylindrical head portion 130l provided adjacent the upper end thereof with a frusto-conical cam surface 131 preferably having an inclination of 30 degrees relative tol the base of the frusto-conical surface. The lower body portion 114 further includes a generally concave fillet as generally indicated at 132, the upper portion of which is defined by an inverted frusto-conical surface 133 which is preferably, as with the surface 131, disposed at approximately 30 degrees relative to the base of the frusto-conical portion of the fillet 132. Although the surfaces 131 and 133 need not necessarily be disposed at a 30 degree angle as aforedescribed, it has generally been found that closer tolerances can be obtained with less likelihood of wear incident to the coupling and uncoupling of the attachment when the surfaces 131 and 133 are so angulated.

The upper body portion 112 is provided with an axially extending elongated centrally disposed concentric bore indicated generally at 138, which bore 138 cornmunicates with the lower end of the upper body portion 112 so as to provide a socket means adapted to releasably engage the elongated cylindrical head portion 130 of the lower body portion 114. The lower portion of the upper body portion 112 is provided with a plurality of integral fingers indicated generally at 140 provided by slotting the outer wall of the upper body portion v112 adjacent the bore 138 thereof. As in the embodiment 10 the stock material utilized to fabricate the upper body portion 112 will be understood to be of a generally rigid somewhat rigid material, such as an appropriately tempered steel for example. The lower end of each of the fingers 140 terminates in an inwardly disposed generally bulbous portion 142 having a somewhat generally triangular configuration with a normally generally inwardly and upwardly frusto-conical recess 143 generally complementary to the frusto-conical surface 131 so as to facilitate camming of the fingers 140 over the head 130, as seen in FIGURE 5, during movement of the fingers 140 from the positions shown therein to their captive position, within the fillet 132, as seen in FIGUR-.E 4. IIt ywill be understood that the ancillary structure required for attachment of the members 112 and 114 to the sucker rod 20 and piston rod plunger 18, as well as the spring 56 and pretensioning member 58,

` not shown in FIGURES 4-6, comprise components of the embodiment 110.

The main distinction between the embodiments 10 and resides in the provision, in the embodiment 110, of a means for non-rotatably coupling the upper and lower body portions 112 and 114 respectively, which coupling means is indicated generally at 200. In FIG- URE 5 the coupling means 200 can be seen in the nonengaged position, whereas in -FIGURE 4 the coupling means 200 can be seen in the engaged position, and in FIGURE 6 the components of the coupling means 200 can be seen in their exploded relationship. More particularly, the coupling means 200 comprises a pair of longitudinally extending, radially opposed slots 202 provided in a pair of opposed ngers 140, intermediate the ends thereof. A plate 204 is carried by the upper body portion 112 in bridging relationship to the bore 138 with the opposed ears 206 slidably engaged in the opposed slots 202. The plate 204 is normally biased downwardly against the lower surfaces defining the slots 202 by spring means 208 received within the bore 138 and centrally positioned relative to the plate 204 by an upstanding boss 210 integral with the upper edge portion of the plate 204. The normal position of the plate 204 may be best seen in FIGURE 5. The upper end portion of the head is provided with a slot means 212 of sufficient width to readily receive the plate 204 upon partial rotation, if the slot means 212 and plate 204 do not at first align, subsequent to reception of the head 130 within the bore 138 with the bulbous portions 143 of the fingers 140 clampingly received within the fillet 132 and retained therein by the means 116, as seen best in FIGURE 4. Thus, it will be appreciated that in FIGURE 4 the coupling means 200 is shown in the engaged relationship wherein the upper body portion 112 is non-rotatably coupled to the lower body portion 114.

Although the aforedescribed structure with regard to the embodiment 110 is not normally necessary to the operation of an attachment constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention, if the plunger with which the device is associated becomes sanded, i.e. stuck and cannot be pulled upwardly sufficiently to bring the member 144 into engagement with the shoulder between the upper and lower portions of the reducing nipple 24 to cause retraction of the member 144 thus releasing the iingers 140 from the iillet 132, the rods could be unscrewed thereby eliminating what is known as a stripping job. Although not described in detail, it will nevertheless be understood that aside from the non-rotatable coupling means, and the operation thereof as described hereinabove, the downhole mode of coupling and uncoupling the body portions 112 and 114 is subsantially the same as that set forth regard to the body portions 12 and 14.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a subsurface pump including a pump plunger adapted to be reciprocated by a sucker rod an on and off attachment for selectively connecting and disconnecting the sucker rod to and from the pump plunger which comprises a lower body portion secured to the pump plunger, said lower body portion being provided with an elongated cylindrical head portion having a hemispherical upper end portion and an arcuate concave iillet at the point of attachment of said head portion to said 'lower body portion, an upper body portion secured to the lowermost end of the sucker rod, said upper body portion including a socket means complementary to said elongated head portion, said upper and lower body portions of said attachment being selectively and releasably connected and disconnected by reciprocatory manipulation of said upper body portion from a point remote to the point of connection of said upper and lower body portins, said lower body portion being provided with an axially slidable spring-biased detent means whereby said upper body portion may be selectively `connected to or disconnected from said lower body portion.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said socket means of said upper body Iportion including a clamping means including a plurality of generally resilient clamping fingers adapted to releasably engage said fillet of said elongated head of said lower body portion whereby said upper and lower body portions are provided with complementary selectively operable clamping means, said axially slidable detent means coacting to selectively maintain said upper and said lower body portions in coupled relationship.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said clamping means of said upper and lower body portions includes said arcuate concave iillet provided in said elongated head and said clamping iingers include complementary convex clamping dogs provided adjacent the lower ends thereof.

4. The combination of claim 3 including a convex ycamming surface on the upper end of said elongated head whereby said resilient fingers will be cammed outwardly so as to readily slide along said head when connecting said upper body portion to said lower body portion.

5. The combination of claim 4 whereby said axially slidable detent means carried by said lower body portion is provided with means limiting the axial movement of said detent sleeve and the spring biasing said sleeve is operatively positioned between the lower end of said sleeve and a spring back up member secured to said lower body portion.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said means limiting the movement of said detent sleeve comprises an axially disposed radially extending slot and a coacting stop member secured to said detent sleeve.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said lower body portion is provided with at least one axially disposed radially extending groove adapted to continuously communicate the upper portion of the interior of said detent sleeve with a point along said lower body portion beneath the lowermost portion of said detent means whereby sand and the like introduced into the upper portion of said detent sleeve may pass downwardly through said grooves so as not to impede the movement of said detent sleeve.

`8. An on and oit attachment for subsurface pumps cornprising a lower body portion adapted to be secured to the pump plunger, said lower body portion being provided with an elongated cylindrical head portion having a hemispherical upper end portion and an arcuate concave fillet at the point of attachment of said head portion to said lower body portion, an upper body portion adapted to be secured to the lowermost end of the sucker rod, said upper and lower body portions of said attachment being adapted to be selectively and releasably connected and disconnected by reciprocatory manipulation of said upper body portion from a point remote to the point of connection of said upper and lower body portions, said lower body portion being provided with an axially slidable spring-biased detent means whereby said upper body portion may be selectively connected to or disconnected from said lower body portion.

9. The combination of claim 1 including means for non-rotatably coupling said upper and lower body portions, said coupling means comprising a slot means in the top of said cylindrical head of said lower body portion, and a spring-biased non-rotatable plate means carried by said upper body portion for engagement with said slot means.

10. In combination with a subsurface pump including a pump plunger adapted to be reciprocated by a sucker rod an on and off attachment for selectively connecting and disconnecting the sucker rod to and from the pump plunger which comprises a lower body portion secured to the pump plunger, said lower body portion being provided with an elongated cylindrical head portion having a frustoconical upper end portion and a generally concave inverted .frusto-conical iillet at the point of attachment of Said head portion to said lower body portion, an upper body portion secured to the lowermost end of the sucker rod, said upper body portion including a socket means complementary to said elongated head portion, said upper and lower body portions of said attachment being selectively Iand releasably connected and disconnected by reciprocatory manipulation of -said upper body portion from a point remote to the point of connection of said upper and lower body portions, said lower body portion being provided with an exteriorly disposed axially slidable spring-biased detent means whereby said upper body portion may be selectively connected to or disconnected from said lower body portion, means for non-rotatably coupling said upper and lower body portions, said coupling means comprising a slot means in the top of said cylindrical head of said lower body portion, and a spring-biased non-rotatable plate means carried by said upper body portion for engagement with said sJot means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,651,551 9/1953 Ingram 10S-202 3,299,830 1/1967 Hora 103--202 ROBERT M. WALKER, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. XR. t 

